Sha Lo Wan

Agricultural officers clad in protective clothing conducted a clean-up in Sha Lo Wan, Lantau Island, yesterday after a dead chicken found on the coast there last Saturday tested positive for H5 bird flu.

Tree thieves from the mainland are risking capture and up to 10 years in jail for pay days of just $300 or $400. And fishermen are paid only $900 to run boats across Hong Kong waters to carry freshly dug up Buddhist pines.

Across the border a good tree - they can grow up to 5 metres - can fetch $100,000, because of their fung shui value and rarity.

THE latest change in the new airport layout put forward by the Provisional Airport Authority (PAA), which involves the destruction of the Sha Lo Wan headland, may not be the only way to meet the PAA's goals of reducing construction costs and enhancing flight-path flexibility.